I jump off the counter. “Stop it! You’re not making this crush any easier.”
“Crush?” she teases. “Already a crush?”
Changing the subject I announce, “I’m going to split the commission with Cora, by the way. That way she can’t be too upset, I imagine. Plus, it’s only fair since it was hers to begin with. Or maybe I’ll give it all to her and use this as a way to impress her, in hopes she’ll give me more prospectives like this. She only dropped him because Rachel made her! She’ll probably thank me!”
As we drop to the patio furniture in her pretty backyard, she smirks, not allowing me to divert her. “Crush, come on! More like an infatuation. You should see your face! This is you: Oh I’m just doing this to help Cora, the bitch who verbally abuses me every damn day. That’s all! You want this guy bad!”
I wince and mutter, “He’s incredibly sexy. For a jerk. But that doesn’t matter! I’m not going to mess this opportunity up. I’ll keep things professional.”
“Bullshit!” she snorts, pale eyes catching in the waning light. “There is nothing professional about this decision. Opportunistic maybe, but not for work!”
I smile, “Stop!”
Hers fades. “Seriously though, I’m keeping you in reality. Sorry Emm, but you’re messing with fire which means someone will get burned. Do you think it will be him? He sounds like a seasoned ladies man. Be careful.”
We go silent, sipping our water, her staring at me, me at the grass to avoid her.
After it becomes too awkward I meet her eyes. “Everyone has to get their heart broken at least once, right?”
Slowly she shakes her head with love-filled compassion. “Oh, Emma, poor thing, you are already signed up.”
CHAPTER 12
EMMA
M y keys are in my hand, primed and ready for the apartment Hannah and I used to share. But I’m not prepared for who I find on the welcome mat. “What are you doing here?”
Andy smiles and pushes off the wall. “Hey gorgeous.”
Confused but not unhappy to see him I open the door and glance over my shoulder to meet his warm, brown eyes. “Have you been sitting out here forever or what?”
“Nah,” he laughs, following me in. “I was training with Tobias today, helping him stay focused like a good manager should.” He beats his chest, comically, like an ape. I set my purse down as he continues on with a more normal voice, “Heard you’d dropped by their place so I headed over here to say hello and he took a break.”
Giving Andy a hug I smell the familiar locker room scent on him from their sweat. “It’s good to see you. Aren’t you afraid he’ll slack off? Breaks are for wimps.”
Andy laughs and I pull away, but he gently wraps his fingers around my arm and pulls me nearer. “Hey, not so fast. Been too long since I kissed those pretty lips of yours.”
“It was last month,” I smile, slipping my arms around his neck. “Don’t get the pouty face. We have a regular thing and you know it.”
He smiles into my eyes. “Not regular enough for me, Emma. Hannah doesn’t know about it, yet, does she?”
I tug away from his hold. We walk into the kitchen and he heads to grab a beer from my fridge like he always does when he drops over now. It’s a nice, easy familiarity between us and I told him he should make himself at home months ago.
“I don’t want one,” I say as he pulls out two. While he throws the cap away from his bottle, stashing the other back in its home, I open the curtains facing the full moon. I saw it on the drive home and it was mysterious, peeking out from a smattering of clouds. “She asked me today if I mind living alone and I have to admit, I don’t. Gets a little lonely sometimes, especially since she bought that house by my brother Ethan. It’s like I’m in another world out here, even though it’s only twenty minutes away.”
“Forty if there’s traffic,” Andy mutters, leaning against a wall. “I miss Florida whenever I’m on 75. Parking lot with rows of taillights.”
Sitting on one of the dining room chairs I get defensive of Atlanta and argue, “It’s not that bad.”
“Yes it is.”
“I never take the freeway home.”
“You know what I mean. Even the surface streets, if they get blocked up it’s a fuckin’ nightmare.”
“Well, there used to be potholes so count yourself lucky,” I toss back.
“Oh yeah? Streets always look real cared for to me.”
With pride I tell him, “That’s because Uncle Justin took care of it when he was Senator. It was at the top of his grievances list. Didn’t make sense that Georgia’s largest city should have such shabby pavement. He found the corruption and had a ton of planners and controllers fired. The old Mayor, too. Cora to this day will tell me, as if I didn’t already know, that Justin chose her to find the best home for the woman he brought in to take over the job and run things right.”
Andy crooks a finger at me. “Come here.”
I walk to him out of habit, without hesitation. “You trying to shut me up already? I just got started,” I tease.
Laughing a little he shakes his head, warm brown eyes locked with mine. “Nah, babe. Just want to get you off the topic of your boss. I know she drives you nuts.” He kisses my nose then presses a gentle kiss to my lips.
The memory of Tanner’s kiss floods into me. When normally I would respond and open my mouth, I keep it closed, pulling away with a boundary-inducing smile. “I want to see the moon before it goes away.”
We turn to the window and he stands behind me, slipping muscular arms around my waist and dipping his chin on my
